1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention is generally directed to infant car seats, and more particularly to an infant car seat base assembly that has a height adjustable foot.
2. Description of Related Art
Infant car seats are known in the art and used to securely and more safely transport infants in moving vehicles. Many infant car seat products have a base that is positioned on the vehicle seat and an infant car seat that is removably attachable to the base. It is desirable for both safety and comfort of the seat occupant to have the infant car seat properly oriented or inclined during use.
It is known in the art for these types of infant car seats to adjust the height of the base at one end. For earlier known products, the incline or recline of the infant car seat could be adjusted by placing a rolled up blanket, towel, or some other article under one end of the car seat base on top of the vehicle seat and then maneuvering the article until the desired attitude or incline of the base was achieved. This practice was inconvenient and awkward and could sometimes result in the infant car seat not being properly inclined for optimum comfort and/or safety.
More recently, a number of infant car seats have been produced that incorporate an on-board adjustment mechanism. The mechanism can typically be manipulated to adjust the car seat base incline or elevation relative to the vehicle seat on which it is installed. The typical adjustment mechanism for such a car seat and base employs some type of column or leg at a front portion of the base (front corresponding to the foot end of the infant car seat). The height of the column or leg relative to the car seat base can be selectively adjusted to change the tilt angle of the base relative to the vehicle seat on which it is installed.
Most of these types of adjustable mechanisms include multiple components and/or require two hands to adjust the mechanism height relative to the base. In one example, GRACO's “Step 1” infant car seat has a base that employs a three-part screw mechanism. A user must rotate an actuator in one direction or the other in order to raise or lower the mechanism height relative to the base. The GRACO “Step 1” mechanism requires only one hand to adjust the height, but the mechanism has multiple parts, which must each be manufactured and assembled in addition to the base. Thus, the cost and complexity of this solution can be relatively high.
In another example, GRACO's “SnugRide” infant car seat has a base that employs a one-piece adjustable mechanism. The “SnugRide” base has a one-piece plastic foot one the inside of the base with a part that projects out from the base bottom and that can be positionally adjusted relative to the base. The plastic foot has a pair of hooked tabs that project out from the base through openings on the base. These tabs hold the foot in a selected height position. In order to adjust the height of the foot, a user must use two hands to push both of the tabs in at the same time and then force the foot up or down to the selected height position. This procedure can be relatively difficult to do, and particularly when the base is installed on a vehicle seat. The user may need one hand to push both tabs in at the same time and the other hand to move the foot. Sometimes the user needs two hands just to push in the tabs, making it difficult to then also move the foot, as the tabs are resiliently biased to extend out through the openings. Also, if the base is pressed against a vehicle's seat back during use, the tabs can be inadvertently pushed inward and the foot can potentially and inadvertently be dislodged from a selected position, altering the base incline. Thus, though this solution employs a one-piece mechanism, two hands are required to manipulate the mechanism and the mechanism can inadvertently move during use.